Black Sabbath

[GhostOfProtocol]

Kei sat back.

He had waited in the lobby for his guest and had got distracted. Instead he had informed said guest to come upstairs to him. [member="John Locke"] knew the location, he had visited the apartment before while designing The Flying Dutchman. It gave Kei time to get the caf warming, or have his protocol droid to it for him anyway. It came in useful having a butler droid.

Kei still needed to name the droid at some point.

He wasn't sure how he could win John Locke over. John had never seen his new face, Kei wasn't sure the man would believe he was who he said he was. He hoped it would be simple, he hoped John would just take the money that was being offered to him. Kei had the money to burn and so he planned to burn it to saite the creative, inventive part of his mind that had come into effect recently.

He adjusted his black tunic.

He had almost gotten used to a suit when he was starting his businesses. Now he had been stranded on Commenor he had a distinct lack of available suits. He knew he could have purchased one but he also knew that it would probably be destroyed the day he brought it. He had a feeling that the day he brought a new suit would be the day the people arrived to liberate.

Kei had heard fron his crew. Asajj had gotten them to finally contact him. They were scared Kei would overreact after they run away. Kei didn't overreact, he was almost pretty happy that his crew were still kicking and still alive. His soldiers had been willing to charge in and free him but Kei couldn't let them do that, he knew that they would be useful in the future.

He raised to his feet. He felt John Locke in the force. He was ready.

 

[John Locke]

It was perhaps the most unusual of messages the executive had ever received, and that was saying something in this galaxy. He'd seen entrances to the underworld, animals of every shape and size and more wonders than he'd thought were possible. And yet, the middle of all this an invitation to Commenor, the world that had just been torn to pieces by the brutality of the Sith Invasion and Occupation. John had already considered coming to see the planet, to see if there was any way he or the Silver Jedi could help. The man was still growing into his role as the head of the Silver Jedi's Manufacturing and science division. It gave him the opportunity to help out people who needed it, like the people of Commenor, but it was a heavy responsibility to get to know. The man stared down at a hologram of the message he'd received, a message from a man he hadn't seen for sometimes. Idly the man flicked his hand, the message spinning like a top as he glanced over at his droid.

"You know sir, you just had to throw a wrench in my plans for the evening. I had it all planned out, you'd end up distracted by some project and I could take some chumps at holo-poker." "How's that going for you." "I'm up 600,00 credits now, it's easy when you figure it out." "You know, if they catch you..." "They'll ban me...they have to figure out I'm a droid first, I'm getting good at that." "You're certainly good at the whole pride thing...all the droids in the galaxy and I end up making the one with a gambling addiction." The engineer was still shaking his head as the elevator ground to a halt, the doors sliding back to reveal the penthouse as he pushed off the wall with a low whistle. "Nice place." John turned an easy smile on the man waiting for him, "Hi, I'm here to see Kei Raxis, do you think you could get him?"

[member="Kei Raxis"]​

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Kei looked towards John.

It made sense that the mechanic wouldn't recognise him. He had changed so much mentally, never mind the physical changes including the whole new face. The engineer in front of him hadn't changed much since Kei had last seen him, however he had gained a new droid. Kei turned to his left, looking at his own protocol droid walking around. Kei wondered what the droid was doing, the droid had a tendancy to wonder around for little reason.

"Well, this is awkward"

Kei grinned. He wasn't one hundred percent sure on how he could prove his idenity to John. He had to hope that John believed the truth of what had happened. Last Kei had heard, the man had been assisting The Silver Jedi so it was likely that he had at least a basic grasp on how the force did it's thing. Kei could use that to his advantage in pursuading the man, Kei could use that to make the man understand.

"I am Kei Raxis. I had to use the force to ugh, change bodies after a run in with death. And I assume you don't believe me"

[member="John Locke"]

 

[John Locke]

Well this was...interesting, the butler was claiming he was Kei Raxis, or at least the man who he assumed was the butler was pretending to be Kei. The executive took a step forward, peering at the face he was presented with, that grin had been all Kei, but it was no more than a skilled actor could replicate...the problem was well it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility for that to happen, for the Force to carry someone from one body to the other. He knew that there was someone in the Silver Jedi who had done something similar, jumped bodies through no wish of her own, only...the dark haired man narrowed his eyes, making a small gesture to EX that send the droid forward, circling Kei, trapping the ban between the two of them.


"This is a little awkward," he wasn't going to lie about that, "...but, that body switching thing, that's something that the Sith do right? It doesn't really seem like a very Jedi thing to do so...what exactly triggered this body-hopping experience of yours." "Yeah, what're you up to bub, tell us see or I'mma get postal on you." There were no words, there were actually no words that could express how it is that John felt right at that moment as he stared past Kei at his droid who was actually trying to loom over the man. "EX?" "What, we weren't playing good cop bad cop? I thought you wanted to get some information out of him, leave him alone with me and my thumbscrews for 5 minutes and I'll have him squealing like a pig." The droids's eyes flickered and he held up a single finger, "just as soon as someone explains what exactly a thumbscrew is, and how I can get my fingers on one."

Disbelief, pure and utter shock was the only reaction that was available to the executive as he stared at his droid before exchanging a surprised glance with Kei. "Ok...so, if you're really Kei, prove it to me."

[member="Kei Raxis"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Kei looked at the droid, blinking.

He couldn't figure the droid out, the droid seemed more human than any other droid Kei had ever come across. Either human or mental, either one was a good definition of the machine. Kei watched as droid and man had a mini argument, the droid clearly having been told the wrong information, or assuming the wrong information. It was almost strange how the best inventor in the galaxy had invented a very assuming droid that seemed to have issues.

Kei turned, hands behind his back. He looked out across the city through the floor to celing glass. He wasn't sure how to prove who he was to John Locke, he wasn't sure how to prove that he was Kei Raxis. He looked up towards the sky. Then it hit him. He spinned on his heels, using the force to pull a small holoprojector into his hand. His protocol droid walked up carrying caf, however Kei was quite happy to ignore the droid.

He messed with the holoprojector for a few moments, before he looked up at John.

"My name is Kei Raxis, Admiral of the Commenor Systems Alliance, or what's left of it. I spent a year trapped in a darkside currupted suit, learning about the past and becoming too powerful, too dangerous. I was killed by Adron Malvern because I was too dangerous to be left alive. We've met before, many times. You are one of the only inventors I trust, even though rumours tell me that you now work for the Silver Jedi, the people who want me arrested for attempted murder"

Kei pressed a button on the side of the holoprojector. A full hologram image of The Flying Dutchman appeared. Kei locked eyes with John Locke. He knew exactly how to make the man know that he was who he said he was. The one thing only Kei Raxis would know. Kei zoomed the hologram in on the ship, focusing on a small, private blank area that was not on any shipwide scans, a great design from the duo.

"In this gap is an Internal Command Bridge that you suggested. The password is something you set. You built this ship for me"

He just hoped that would work.

[member="John Locke"]

 

[John Locke]

Well, that was...something that no-one else could know...or perhaps they could, the force was such a thing that ripping information right out of someone's head wasn't beyond the realms of possibility, but then for that matter neither was possession. Really, when you came down to it the force was a really really unfair and perplexing tool. In truth how could you know for certain that anyone was who they said they were without having access to the same force yourself? The galaxy really really wasn't fair to those born without the force was it? The man sighed, rubbing his temple with one hand as he nodded. "Ok, fine, there isn't any way someone who wasn't there for the design of the ship could know that, so you really are Kei then huh?"

John's hand fell down, from his face, stroking his beard as his head tilted to the side, observing Kei. "I'm not even going to ask where you got the body, or why. But...isn't it a little dangerous for you here. I mean, it's not like you're exactly hard to find." EX stepped up, eyes shining brightly, "If we could find you, you must know that other hunters will find you eventually."

John raised a hand, shaking his head at the droid, "I think he knows, but...why did you call me here Kei?"

[member="Kei Raxis"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

"Hell"

He laughed. He wasn't wrong, the body had been rescued from hell, the neatherworld. Kei lead the duo through into the living room, however the living room wasn't furnished as it used to be. The furniture had been removed, replaced with workbenches and more tools than you could dream of. The workshop was an engineers dream, it had been designed to contain everything that would be needed for a long night of building and designing.

"I need your expertise John. This body, this mind, it's a builder. It scares me, a skill I never needed I now crave to learn. I need power armour, thin enough to wear into battle and armed to the teeth for when it all eventually goes wrong. I can probably use a welder and a wrech but I don't even know where to start on designing and weaponising. There's enough credits in it so that you can buy anything you've ever dreamed of, anything you've ever wanted"

He looked at John, using the force to pull two chairs up. The droid could stand, the droid was annoying the hell out of him.

"I know that you advise the Silver Jedi now. I expect you to tell them where I am, I wouldn't have it any other way. I know that they want my head, I know that to them I am nothing but a war criminal. However, I want your help first"

[member="John Locke"]